Microsoft (MSFT.O) is collaborating with the French government to create a digital twin of Paris' iconic Notre-Dame Cathedral, the country's most visited landmark, the company's president Brad Smith announced on Monday.
The 862-year-old Gothic cathedral, which reopened in December following five years of restoration after a major fire in 2019, will now be digitally replicated to preserve its architectural details and offer an immersive virtual experience for remote visitors, Microsoft said.
Notre-Dame, immortalised in Victor Hugo’s 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, has become a symbol of French heritage, with its hunchbacked bell-ringer Quasimodo featured in films, musicals, and animated adaptations.
Microsoft previously partnered with French heritage digitalisation firm Iconem to create a digital version of St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. Reflecting on that experience, Smith told Reuters, “We learned that a digital twin helps with long-term maintenance by capturing a precise record of every centimetre of a structure.”
He added, “Creating a digital twin today will provide a priceless record that I believe will still be in use a century from now.”
Since 2019, Microsoft has undertaken similar digital preservation projects, including Ancient Olympia in Greece, Mont Saint-Michel in France, and commemorations of the 80th anniversary of the Allied landings in Normandy.
Bella Culley, a pregnant British teenager jailed in Georgia for smuggling marijuana and hashish from Thailand, was freed on Monday (November 3) under ...
Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin reaffirmed the strength of bilateral relations during the 30th regular meeting b...
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says that Tehran will not cooperate with Washington as it continues to support Israel, maintain military bases and interfere in...
A conference marking the 80th anniversary of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences was held on 3 November, where President Ilham Aliyev highligh...
A 32-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder after a stabbing on a U.K. train injured 11 people, including a railway worker now in critica...
Bella Culley, a pregnant British teenager jailed in Georgia for smuggling marijuana and hashish from Thailand, was freed on Monday (November 3) under a plea agreement.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin reaffirmed the strength of bilateral relations during the 30th regular meeting between Chinese and Russian heads of government, held on Monday in Hangzhou, eastern China’s Zhejiang Province.
New York City’s mayoral election on 4 November 2025 has become one of the most closely watched local races in the United States.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says that Tehran will not cooperate with Washington as it continues to support Israel, maintain military bases and interfere in the Middle East Region.
Ukraine’s top military commander has confirmed that troops are facing “difficult conditions” defending the strategic eastern town of Pokrovsk against a multi-thousand Russian force.
Russia has launched its new nuclear-powered submarine, the Khabarovsk, at the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk, the Defence Ministry said Saturday.
Armenia will offer Azerbaijani as an optional subject for 10-12th grade students in three schools from the 2025/2026 academic year as part of a state programme to develop foreign and regional languages.
A man and a woman were killed and several others injured in a shooting on the Greek island of Crete on Saturday, in what police officials described as a family vendetta, reviving memories of the island’s long and complex history of inter-family violence.
Two men accused of stealing €88 million worth of jewels from Paris’ Louvre Museum have been charged and remanded in custody, as investigators continue to search for the missing treasures.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin reaffirmed the strength of bilateral relations during the 30th regular meeting between Chinese and Russian heads of government, held on Monday in Hangzhou, eastern China’s Zhejiang Province.
A 32-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder after a stabbing on a U.K. train injured 11 people, including a railway worker now in critical condition.
Ukraine’s military said on Monday it struck an oil refinery in Russia’s Saratov region overnight, causing a fire at one of the refining units, and separately targeted Russian logistical sites in the occupied Luhansk region.
An earthquake of magnitude 5.8 struck the south-east coast of Russia's Kamchatka region on Monday (3 November), the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said.
Carlos Mazon, the leader of Spain's eastern Valencia region, said on Monday he was stepping down over his administration's handling of catastrophic floods that swept over the region a year ago.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment